Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said that the fate of the world’s 1.7 billion Muslims was no longer in the hands of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
According to Anadolu Agency, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Kuala Lumpur Summit in the Malaysian capital, Erdogan reiterated that the world was bigger than the five permanent UNSC members, whose veto power could prove catastrophic for smaller nations.
“The world is bigger than five” is a famous slogan repeatedly used by Erdogan to criticise the permanent council members that are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).
He also said that Turkey did not bow to pressure to silence it, including a coup attempt, economic terror and slander. “As they try to silence Turkey, we insist on calling attention to Palestine, Gaza, the Rohingya, Libya, Somalia, and Syria.”
Earlier at the opening ceremony, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as well as the host, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, delivered speeches.
Hundreds of government officials, businessmen, representatives of civil societies and experts from different sectors across the Muslim world, except Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, are taking part in the summit.
Islamabad reportedly decided not to participate in the moot after being told so by Riyadh.
